|
|
Sold Out
Book Categories |
When seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell runs away to New York City, she’s trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city’s labyrinthine subway system.
But there’s something eerily beguiling about Val’s new friends. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels they call home and shoots up a shimmery amber-colored powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he can make deals with creatures that no one else can see. And then there’s Luis’s brother, timid and sensitive Dave, who makes the mistake of letting Val tag along as he makes a delivery to a woman who turns out to have goat hooves instead of feet.
When a bewildered Val allows Lolli to talk her into tracking down the hidden lair of the creature for whom Luis and Dave have been dealing, Val finds herself bound into service by a troll named Ravus. He is as hideous as he is honorable. And as Val grows to know him, she finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.
What makes Black's books so appealing to young adult readers is their well-balanced mix of reality (including a healthy dose of sex), high-concept fantasy and old-fashioned mystery. Raudman's expert reading of Black's second book in what the author calls the Faerie series catches that delicate blend very well, giving equal weight and credibility to characters who are definitely human (like heroine Valerie, her dismal school mates, her tacky family and the sad young derelicts she meets in the subway tunnels of New York) and those who are from another world entirely like the golden-eyed troll Ravus, who delivers a drug that heals faeries but kills the human runaways who steal it, looking for a way to improve their desperate condition. Raudman, whom listeners might recognize as several of the younger voices on The Simpsons, has a universally appealing voice likely to please hardcore fantasy fans and neophytes alike. Ages 14-up. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Murphy Murphy
reviewed Valiant (Modern Tale of Faerie Series #2) on August 09, 2018
Valiant (Modern Tale of Faerie Series #2)
Ravus nodded again. "I will make you as terrible as you desire."
"I don't want to be-," she started, but he held up his hand.
"I know you're very brave," he said.
"Or stupid."
"And stupid. Brave and stupid." Ravus smiled, but then his smile sagged. "But nothing can stop you from being terrible once you've learned how."
Holly Black has, apparently, been crafting marvelous worlds and characters for quite a long time now. I adored this story even more than her earlier Tithe.
Valiant is a Beauty and the Beast retelling following Val, who, upon running away from home, falls in with some pals on the subway. Upon running into a troll named Ravus, she finds herself falling deeper and deeper into the faerie world - and maybe in love. Everyone is completely awful, everyone makes really big mistakes, and you cannot look away.
Woo! Okay. So this book was just an absolutely wild ride. Holly Black's writing is so, so engrossing - she is just absolutely magical. The plot is twisty and creepy; you can almost feel the book getting darker by the moment, as Val falls increasingly into drug addiction and into the faerie world. The characters are not exactly likable but remain compelling; no one feels good and no one feels bad. The romance is equally compelling, with the love interest's backstory standing out is absolutely incredible. And the book deals well with the idea of becoming haunted by a friend's death; despite the fantastical outer layer of the story, the emotional core is quite solid.
And since Holly's faerie world is overlapping over itself, let's talk about how well she's crafted this universe, shall we? The idea of the seelie court vs. the unseelie court is a common one, and the concept of morally grey fairies is not new. But it's been said before and will be said again: no one writes fairies like Holly Black. The delicious evil, mixed with bits and pieces of humanity, is somehow equal bits enthralling and repulsive. I felt the thematic core and character writing of this book was far stronger than that of Holly Black's debut, Tithe, but her fairy writing has remained excellent from the start.
"She thought of something her mother had told her when she'd finally broken up with one of her most dysfunctional boyfriends. When a man tells you he's going to hurt you, believe it. They always warn you and they're always right."
Holly Black's love of ladies and of lady knights is consistent and honestly my favorite thing about her canon. Her female characters are so deliciously and delightfully morally gray: Tithe's Kaye, Coldest Girl's Tana, Darkest Part's Hazel, and The Cruel Prince's Jude are each very different, but they share a core of strength and willingness to do messed up things for their reasons. She writes characters who are consciously mean and consciously kind and focuses on their agency. Despite the terrible circumstances Val finds herself in, the romance of this story is built on firm ground from the lead's side.
This was one of the sequels I needed to read in 2019, so I'm excited that I actually succeeded in reading it! Onto Ironside.
TW: drug addiction, and a moment of serious animal murder that made me sick to my stomach.
Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube
Login|Complaints|Blog|Games|Digital Media|Souls|Obituary|Contact Us|FAQ
CAN'T FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR? CLICK HERE!!! X
You must be logged in to add to WishlistX
This item is in your Wish List
X
This item is in your Collection
Valiant (Modern Tale of Faerie Series #2)
X
This Item is in Your Inventory
Valiant (Modern Tale of Faerie Series #2)
X
You must be logged in to review the productsX
X
X
Add Valiant (Modern Tale of Faerie Series #2), , Valiant (Modern Tale of Faerie Series #2) to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
X
Add Valiant (Modern Tale of Faerie Series #2), , Valiant (Modern Tale of Faerie Series #2) to your collection on WonderClub |
